Government to import 537,000 bpd of fuel in 2012

Indonesia will import about 537,000 barrels per day (bpd) of refined fuels in 2012 as the local refineries are still unable to meet the demand which is projected to reach 1.24 million bpd next year, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has estimated.

Edy Hermanto, the director for oil and gas upstream operations at the ministry?s directorate general of oil, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that there would be a deficit of about 537,00 bpd in domestic fuel supply next year or about 43 percent of the projected demand because the country?s refineries could only produce 705,000 bpd.

Indonesia needs to import at least 537,000 bpd to cope with the production shortage, he said, adding that the country should ideally operate two more refineries, each with a capacity of 300,000 per day, to be able to meet the country?s total fuel demand.

Of the total fuel demand of 1.24 million bpd, about 689,000 bpd or about 40 million kiloliters will consist of subsidized gasoline, diesel and kerosene fuels, and the remaining 553,000 bpd will comprise non-subsidized higher octane fuels.

Next year, the subsidized Premium gasoline quota reaches 24.41 million kiloliters, while those for diesel and kerosene would total 13.88 million kiloliters and 1.7 kiloliters, respectively. (*)